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Chapter 3: Manipulative, Meticulous, Mathematical Mastermind Metharme!
Previously on My Inferno: The traveling group meet a skilled gunslinger known as Shade Kagekyo, who is hired to accompany Pandora along with Sadow and Baldr after defeating a group of Bandits single-handedly. Though before they could leave, they are confronted by a Demonic swordsman known as Forcas, who is barely defeated by the combined efforts of Sadow, Shade, and Baldr. The town is quickly evacuated, and the Bandit leader Rex escapes, while the group moves north to Olympus... thumb|300px|right|Opening And Then There Was Cake Their wounds healed after intensive treatment and rest, Sadow and Shade felt ashamed that their slowing down to heal has caused a quicker depletion of food rations. They sat around a campfire in the woods, their bellies rumbling loudly. Shade clutched his, looking ashamed "...This is awful." Baldr gruffed in agreement, his large stomach howling like a massive beast. Sadow, who attempted to sleep leaning against a tree, was awoken by Baldr's stomach "Not to complain or anything, but the rumblings of your stomachs are keeping me awake." He looked around, noticing that they were the only ones in the camp "Where's Uriel and Pandora...?" Baldr answered "They are looking for food... I insisted on accompanying Lady Pandora but she reasoned that my size was insuitable for travel in the woods. Thus, Uriel readily agreed to accompany her. Though I hope they know which berries are good to eat..." Sadow looked away and mumbled "Knowing Uriel, she's probably devouring an entire bush of berries, safe or not." Uriel delightfully scooped a handful of purple berries into her mouth, filling it and causing her cheeks to puff out. She chewed them as Pandora shouted over from her searching-side "Find anything yet?" Uriel quickly swallowed her berries and answered back "Nope! Nothing over here!" Pandora sighed and yelled "I will check over here-" she pointed east. "-be sure that if you find any berries to check with me first! They might be poisonous!" Uriel chuckled gleefully "Alright~! ...Wait, what?" She stood frozen, wondering if the berries she just ate were healthy or not. Meanwhile, Pandora checked a couple of bushes for berries. Finding none, her stomach growled angrily. She clutched it and complained "What I wouldn't give for some chocolate, strawberry-topped ca-" She stopped in mid-sentence at the spectacle in front of her. Off in the distance was a factory, emitting smoke from heating units, but the sign, in bold, bright yellow and pink letters, read "Pygmalions' Famous Cakes" Her jaw dropping, she dropped the berries in her hands and fell to her knees, Beethoven's Ode to Joy playing in her head as she gazed upon the glory of the factory, despite it looking slightly abandoned. A few letters on the sign were no longer lit while others flickered on and off. The building was grey and dull appearing on the outside, with cracks and veins appearing on the walls. The doors were slightly rusted, and many windows were shattered. Regardless, she was elated by the sight of it, and called to Uriel "Miss Uriel! Come look! I've found a Cake Factory!" Uriel whined while strolling towards Pandora "Yeah right... Don't tease someone who's hungry, Pandora-" She quickly caught her words as she saw something that quickly made her hug Pandora tightly "Is this real?! Can this truly be so?! A Cake Factory, all the way out here?!" Pandora sighed "But there's no way of knowing that there are any Cakes that are still good in that old abandoned place..." Uriel smirked and chuckled to herself mischievously "No way of knowing... Unless we check..." Pandora quickly protested "But... what about the others? Won't they come searching for us?" Uriel waved it off "Psssh... Not if we are quick." Pandora looked back at the distant smoke rising from the forest from the group's campfire and then back at the factory. Uriel poked her several times on the arm with both index fingers while insisting "Comeooon..." Pandora hestitantly nodded "Alright." At this, they race down to the factory doors, which look to be sealed thanks to the rust they've seen over the years. Uriel put her index finger to the her cheek in contemplation of what to do. Pandora examined the door closely "The hinges have rusted considerably. A good kick could open it, but..." Without any questions asked, Uriel delivers a hard kick to the rusted doors, knocking them down. Pandora exclaimed "Uriel!" Uriel, in turn, shrugged meekly "What? The doors are open, aren't they?" Pandora muttered while following her in "Define 'open'..." As they ventured into the factory, an ominous presence was alerted in the security room that the doors were destroyed. It checked the security cameras for what had done so, seeing Pandora and Uriel entering the factory. The figure flipped a few switches and turned some dials but nothing happened, much to its' frustration. Meanwhile, Uriel and Pandora jumped in glee at the sight of preserved cakes aligned in glass containers on shelves everywhere. They couldn't decide which to eat first, or which they should take with them to the camp. Uriel immediately began chomping down cheese and strawberry cakes, whilst Pandora slowly enjoyed a chocolate cake with a strawberry topping. When they finished they packaged some cakes for the others back at camp. Pandora hummed to herself while tieing a bow on a package of cake with grey icing and chocolate chips. "Cookie Dough, one of Baldr's favourites. And I got Strawberry, Cherry, and Vanilla cakes for Sadow since I don't know what he likes. Speaking of which, what cake are you getting for Shade, Uriel?" She turned to see Uriel packaging something in secret and mumbling "Oh, you'll see..." Pandora raised a brow "Are you still angry at him for that wing-size comment?" Uriel retorted "I take great offense to it! And he didn't even apologize..." Pandora sighed "Just don't get him anything that'll kill him." They finished packaging the cakes and headed out toward the camp as the silhouetted figure entered the storage room they were just looting. It scanned the room slowly, surveying what had been taken and then left abruptly, it's trenchcoat flaps following close behind as it strode out of the room. Back at camp, Shade stared at Uriel with the cake in his lap. "Coconut...?" Uriel smirked at him "What's wrong? Don't like the cake I got especially for you?" Shade stared at it and muttered "I... love Coconut!" Uriel smirked while putting her hands at her hips and looking proud "Well, I guess you'll just have to settle with- Wait, what?" Shade smiled at her while taking off the lid "How did you know my favourite flavour?!" Uriel's jaw dropped as she saw him enjoy what she assumed was a flavour he, like most, despised. Pandora smirked at her while handing Sadow a Strawberry cake "Backfired." Uriel grudgingly sat in the corner, wrapping her arms around her armoured knees and muttered "Well-played." Sadow nodded at Pandora while smiling faintly "Thanks. I'm not one for sweets but I appreciate that you thought of me." Pandora smiled and handed Baldr his cake "Cookie Dough... Lady Pandora, I am in your debt." She giggled "Don't be silly, Baldr, it's just a cake. Besides, you serve my father. Plus I wasn't about to get everyone else cakes but you." Baldr nodded in gratitude "You are too kind, milady." The group fell asleep with their bellies full, agreeing to stop by the factory in the morning to loot some more cakes for the road. As they crossed to the forest edge, seeing it in it's dead glory and grey surrounding, Sadow muttered "How strange..." Pandora asked, looking up at him "What is it, Sadow?" He replied while staring out at the monument of a once-proud business establishment "I don't like this sudden appearance of this factory, it's too... convenient. That it just happens to be here when we needed it." Uriel chuckled while holding her arms behind her head casually "I'm not complaining." Shade added "They say if something is too good to be true, it probably is. We should stay on alert." They nodded in agreement and approached the decayed facility carefully. Uriel entered the factory eagerly, slamming open the rusted doors and dancing in circles at the sight of the cakes. "And they're still here~!" They all entered as well, though Pandora was hesitant. "Didn't... we smash down those doors last night?" She entered and tugged Sadow's red cloth at his side. He turned to her "What is it?" She looked a little spooked at the cakes and admitted "This place doesn't feel right... I think we should leave..." Sadow reached for his blades, on alert "Why? Did you see something?" Pandora nodded and leaned up, nudging Sadow to lean down for a whisper. He did so and she whispered in his ear "Last night we... broke those doors down to get in." Sadow's eyes widened and he yelled to the others, now on full-alert "Get out! Quick!" Baldr and Shade started towards the door as Uriel's head jolted up, her mouth covered in icing. The rusted doors slammed shut and, upon Shade reaching the handles, he was immediately electrocuted. Sadow drew his blades and looked around "A trap." A deep voice rung out of the intercom "Greetings, intruders. My name is Metharme. I see you could not be content with simply stealing those few cakes last night, you had to return for more. Well I won't let that happen. Luckily for you, the security was down last night so you managed to get away easily. But your return was your biggest mistake. And I assure you, the cost will be dire." Sadow took a battle stance and tried to reason with Metharme "Look, we didn't mean any harm. We'll pay whatever those cakes cost." The voice replied sternly "Those cakes were not for sale. And that hasn't changed simply because you ate them." Sadow asked, the group forming together "What are you going to do to us?" After a moment of consideration, the voice rung back "I shall put you through a number of tests. They shall shall test your strength, speed, and endurance as well as creativity and problem solving. Let the show begin." At this, the floors beneath their feet opened to a circular hole big enough for each except for Baldr to fit through. The voice hesitantly asked "...Could you please step through the enlarged doors?" Baldr asked in turn "Will I be electrocuted if I try?" Metharme answered bluntly and seriously "No. Now please proceed to Staging Area 1." Baldr nodded "Very well." and stepped through an indicated pair of large doors, opening for him by Metharme's activation. Five Fitness Tests Baldr stood still as the large metallic room was illuminated by the loud shutter of lights on the ceiling. He gazed at the white text reading "STAGING AREA 1" on the walls. "The space-" Metharme explained "-is from our factory equipment being removed for the time being. This shall serve as a sufficient test." At this, a part of the ceiling opened up and a cupcake twice the size of Baldr himself descended on him. He had only a moment to look in shock and prepare himself for it as it slammed into his opened arms. His knees bent under the massive weight, which could crush the average human. Metharme announced "Since your muscles are clearly larger than the other's, you will be tested on strength. Let us see if those muscles of yours are just for show or not. You must lift the Cupcake over to the designated spot. Follow the arrows." Baldr strained to turn and see the arrows leading all the way across the kilometer-far room. His jaw dropped in astonishment and dread "...What a length. But I must overcome this obstacle. For Lady Pandora." At this, he heaved himself over to face the direction of the arrows and began his slow march to his destination. Metharme added "And if you drop the Cupcake, you fail the course." Baldr muttered mentally "No breaks... I wonder if that cake was even worth all this." As for Shade, he stood at the end of a hallway with many armed booby traps in front of him, the walls marked "STAGING AREA 6" Shade looked up at the intercom as it announced "You look like a bright young lad. This challenge will be one of Problem Solving. It will strain every part of your mental capacity. You may begin when ready. Oh, and if you get killed during the course, you fail it." Shade looked a little annoyed by the obvious comment "Oh, is that right? ...Wait, this thing can kill us?" At this, a bullet zoomed past Shade's head, the air current blowing his hair back. His eye remained wide well long after it hit the wall behind him. Metharme chimed "Good luck~" Uriel, all the while, looked completely frightened by her surroundings, "STAGING AREA 2" being marked in white on the walls. The intercom buzzed "In this course, you will be tested on speed. The physiology scan says those wings of yours are real. If so, all the better for the challenge." Uriel sighed in relief at this and then smiled "I can do that." Just then, the area she was in protruded spikes from many different angles, causing her to have to take flight to avoid them. "Jeepers!" Following it up, Flames shot out from the ceiling, threatening to burn her if she didn't react quickly. She quickly did a flip to the side and regained momentum as the stream of fire blazed next to her. "How the heavens am I supposed to survive this!? This is Angelic abuse!" She screamed in comical terror as the spikes spun like drills and shot at her from multiple angles. Metharme explained "Survive for ten minutes and you pass." Uriel gasped out while ducking a spinning drill "Survive?!" Sadow had his blades drawn for combat while looking sternly at the darkness he was in. He could feel warm air currents moving past him. "Something behind me." He whirled around and went wide-eyed as he saw dozens of iron prods, each tipped with hot metal, orange and burning bright. It was the only light the room had to offer. Metharme stated "You look resilient enough, or at least one should hope. For this challenge, you must put your endurance to pain to the test." Sadow smirked "Lemme guess, you want me to walk into those." Metharme chimed "It's either that or these." The lights burst on and, at the end of small hallway, was prods tipped with sharpened ice. Sadow smirked "Thank the Devil I'm a Brand or else this would suck a huge one." He extended his arms as far as he could and dropped his weapons, then charged toward the burning prods with his arms still extended. Meanwhile, Pandora sat awaiting her challenge. There were windows but she had looked out of them for long enough. She found that, while she could crawl out of them as she pleased, they lead to a terrifying drop which would lead to her being paralyzed, at best, if she attempted to escape. A small light flickered above her, illuminating the desk she was sitting on and a small stool for her to sit on. She preferred the stool and saw a piece of paper and a pencil in front of her with multiple Mathematics equations in front of it. She raised a brow while examining the piece of paper and asked aloud "What is this?" Metharme answered "Your challenge. Answer all the questions correctly and deposit your paper into the deposit box provided." A small attachment to the door at the end of the room opened, revealing a space inside for a folded paper. "You can't be serious..." Metharme replied "I am serious. If you wish for freedom, solve the equations. If you wish for death, do not and you will starve in that little room. Or would you prefer the windows?" Pandora looked over at the door with the deposit box. It had no handle so she couldn't open it. She sighed and picked up the wooden pencil and started her challenge. Baldr panted, sweat dripping off of his chin from the straight of even keeping the Cupcake aloft over his head. His large boot-covered foot shifted forward. He then caught his other foot up with it but slowly so that the Cupcake doesn't tip over from behind him and cause him to drop it. He made it only a quarter of the way and still felt like his muscles were on fire. He muttered while inching forward with great strain "How much... does this thing way?" Metharme answered, taking his question seriously "Three-thousand, four-hundred, and fifteen pounds, to be precise. It is weighed down with parts of the conveyor belts that I cleared from that very room." Baldr could scarcely believe it "You... put... Conveyor Belt... parts in this...?" Metharme confirmed "I needed a place to put them and I needed to make the Cupcake heavier. Thus, I improvised." Baldr reached halfway and struggled with his load, falling on one knee and allowing the cupcake to tip to the side a bit. The cherry on top slowly slid on the icing, but Baldr managed to regain his original stance before it could fall. Sadow screamed in agony, his body armour-less and pressing against the hot metal. It burned his skin considerably. Metharme informed "Five more minutes until you pass the course. Your vitals, remarkably, show no signs of extreme damage, unless you count the spots of third-degree burns on your chest and arms. How very strange for a human to last so long." Sadow screamed "Five minutes!" and leaped off the burning prods and charged toward the ice-tipped ones, the sharp points threatening to impale him. Metharme "Aim carefully, human. If you impale a vital organ you may die before the five minutes is u-" Before she could finish, Sadow had completely impaled himself onto the prods, smirking and thinking to himself "I may be immortal against everything but Demons, but they didn't say I can kill myself!" He pulled himself off of the prods and crumpled to the ground, bleeding profusely. "At least... I hope not..." Metharme announced, shocked "Your... vitals are restoring themselves? Is this machine working correctly? Human, are you alive?" Sadow's wounds closed and he smirked "Three more minutes..." Shade dived over a pair of spinning blades on the ground and rolled forward, quickly taking cover from an oncoming bullet. "It fires every seven seconds... If I time my movements correctly, I can make it through this no problem." As he turned to cross around the corner he was taking cover behind, his eye widened and he quickly retreated back to that cover as two more bullets whizzed past. Shade thought to himself "What... the hell...?" Metharme clarified "The bullets fire where your heat signature appears as of this point. The defenses will become more rigorous as you bypass them." Shade smirked "How interesting. We had tests like these back at the Kagekyo training institute." He removed a gun with a tube attached to it instead of an ammo cartride. Reaching into his pack, he pulled out a syringe of light blue slimy matter. He fills the tube with it and, timing himself precisely, dives out from the corner, firing streams of the slime at the wall's holes where bullets are fired from, covering them. The light at the top of the wall turns red, signifying that it detects Shade. However, thanks to the now-hardened slime, the bullets are unnable to fire, buying Shade enough time to pass that corner. He smirks as he believes he's passed the challenge, but nearly runs into a wall of fire, which jets out from all sides, blocking his path. Uriel panted while her wings strained to keep her aloft. Her senses still keen, however, she dodged three drilling spikes as they hovered up at her. As they collided with other spikes, they smashed like soft rock. Uriel immediately recognized what the drills were made of and smirked "Charcoal... It's like Charcoal!" As another drill sped toward her, she turned and kicked it hard with her armoured leg, shattering it. She did an arm-pump of celebration at her discovery, but Metharme discouraged "While those drills may be made of Charcoal from the fuel of this factory, those are most certainly not." Uriel gave a questioning look and turned to see Javelins being fired at her from holes in the walls. She quickly dodged each one frantically as Metharme added "These ones are made of melted-down metal from the conveyor belts used to carry the cakes that you stole." Uriel shrieked comically while dodging them "These pastries'll be the death of me!" Pandora's eye twitched nervously. These problems were advanced. Only a super computer would have the ability to solve these problems. Metharme chimed in "Giving up~?" Pandora looked frustrated but suddenly her eyes widened, realizing how the problems work. She put her epithany to the test and started solving the difficult questions with ease. She hoisted the paper high as her pencil jotted down the last addition to the final question. "Complete!" Metharme added "There's a back-side." Pandora flipped over the paper to find that the questions are twice as difficult as the ones before. She bangs her head on the desk in frustration. Shade reached the end of the dangerous hall, dodging and ducking poisonous darts speeding toward him. He panted tiredly, that test being comparable to several tactical missions he's had in the past. He sighed in relief that it was now over as the wall in front of him slide up to allow him passage into a dark room. Hesitantly, he entered. Meanwhile, the times were up for Uriel and Sadow, thus they were allowed through in their respective passageways. Sadow merely put his armour back on and stepped through, whereas Uriel clammered to the ground clumsily from the strain on her wings and her tired position. She practically had to drag herself through the exit. Baldr, yelling loudly, strained his large foot onto the marked area in success. An alarm went off signalling he had succeeded, and he slid the cupcake onto the floor loudly, the icing spilling on the metal with the heavy machinery baked inside. A large door slid open for him to pass, which he had to pop his back before leaving. As Sadow entered, he spotted that Pandora was already there, waiting in the average-sized room which was empty but had red carpeting and a bright, yellow Chandelier at the center of the ceiling. Sadow asked, popping his shoulders "How did you get here so quick, Pandora?" She grimaced "I had to do Math... What did you have to do?" Sadow looked away with an unpleasant frown "I don't... want to talk about it..." She raised a brow as they heard loud heaving sounds, like that of a dying Ox. Sadow readied his blades for what was to come, but was shocked to see Baldr dragging himself to reach them from the dark corridor next to them. He fell face-first onto the ground, shaking the Chandalier and causing a loud tremor throughout the room. Pandora worriedly went to baldr's side, exclaiming "Baldr!" He muttered, trying to catch his breath "Lady... Pandora..." Uriel practically crawled to reach the end of the room, choking out "Water... Need... Water..." Upon reaching Sadow's feet, she comically passed out, her head resting on his foot. Pandora exclaimed, still at Baldr's side "Miss Uriel!" Sadow eased while sheathing his swords "Relax. She just fainted. Still, she'll need water soon to regain her strength." He gently patted his hand against Uriel's cheek to awaken her "Wakeup, Angel. We're not out of the woods yet." She murmured to herself "And here I thought I'd finally get a break from all of this booboo-trap madness..." Just as she said this, however, the floor beneath them opened, the carpet following the sliding metal. They all only had a second to look down at the dark abyss that was their next destination before they fell, Uriel and Pandora screaming in fright. The four landed hard on more carpeted ground, Sadow's back on Baldr's chest in a painfully distorted position. Uriel's back was on Sadow's arm, her wing being pulled stingingly. Pandora's face was buried in Uriel's cleavage, suffocating her because of her inability to pull herself up, her arms buried under Uriel's back. Finally, the three on top of Baldr roll off and hit the ground hard. Sadow coughed, regaining his breath and yelled "How the hell did a Cake factory like this become a maze of death traps and slide-holes and-" He stopped in mid-sentence, noticing Shade standing above the three but not looking at them, his gun poised at a gothic-looking girl standing in front of a series of screens and controls. The girl greeted "You seemed to have found me. Congratulations, was it worth the effort? Because, despite you solving the puzzles assigned to you, I am still not satisfied." Sadow yelled comically "Not satisfie?! We busted our asses out there!" Shade also pointed out "They also didn't seem like puzzles, but rather traps that needed to be evaded." The girl quickly changed the topic "At any rate, I suppose a formal introduction is in order. I am Metharme, caretaker of this facility and guardian of it's contents. It's a pleasure to meet you." They all looked comically skeptical, and Sadow even pointed at her and asked "You're the deep-voiced psycho that nearly killed us? You're a... a teenage girl..." Metharme explained lecturingly in a voice like that of a monotone girl with no emotion "Appearances can be deceiving. But you would know all about that, wouldn't you? You're vitals remain intact despite the torture I put you through." Pandora looked horrified at Sadow "She tortured you?!" Sadow murmured "I said I didn't want to talk about it..." Baldr demanded in a gruffy voice "You said you would release us if we passed your tests." Metharme tilted her head, her expression blank "Did I? Or was that merely a product of hope conjured by that human brain of yours?" Sadow asked, his curiosity peaked "You're not human?" Metharme turned to him and shook her head, confirming "I am an Android, though I prefer the term Artificial-Citizen, myself." Sadow was confused "An Android?" Pandora explained "I heard about them in our Science textbooks back at Olympus. Androids are a new breakthrough in technology that allows us to replicate life in the form of machinery, give it a name, and slap on a human appearance to make it look publically cute, imposing, or whatever effect is needed." Metharme nodded in agreement "I once wore this maid outfit. It was custom for us workers here in the factory. They were our uniforms. But after a while, I found it a bit tacky and tasteless and discarded it in place of clothing of my own design." She pointed to her black, leather uniform. Shade asked, his gun still poised at her "What will you do with us now?" Metharme rubbed the side of her head while considering "The white-haired one displays instantaneous regeneration, a trait uncommon in humans. Highly uncommon, in fact. I would like to discover the reason behind this trait. Thus, more simulations will be needed. Would you be so kind as to wait here while I get them up and running? I can brew some tea while you wait." The entire group was speechless. Uriel burst out "Huddle!" and the group huddled together, leaning their heads in while wrapping their arms around eachother's shoulders, except for Baldr due to his size. Sadow whispered "This chick is nuts! I say we high-tail it out of here!" Shade nodded in agreement "She is obviously out of her mind. I say we make her think we are waiting, but survey the room for an exit." They nodded and turned to Metharme, Pandora announcing "We will wait." Metharme smiled, her face otherwise expressionless, and nodded "Good. I will be back shortly with some tea." As she exited the room, the group immediately began looking around for a way out. After a few seconds, Pandora exclaims "There's no way out of here but through the door she just went through..." Baldr huffed "I cannot fit through that tiny door." Shade put his ear against the metal wall next to the door Metharme exited through, closing his eyes and holding a finger up for complete silence. He then confirmed "Beyond this wall is a large room with some conveyor belts. If we can blow our way through this wall and make a mad dash to the end of the room, we should be able to find a door. Though it can be easily locked by that control grid over there. Thus, we must unlock the door with it, destroy it, and blow through the door to get to freedom." Shade turned to the control console and grimaced "Damn. We need a key to unlock it. And I'll wager that key is on that Android's person." Uriel fell to her knees "How are we supposed to get them if they're in the hands of that crazy robot-witch!" Shade smirked "One of us will have to distract her. I've been trained in item-retrieval so I can get the key from her. All I need is for her to be distra-" As he was in mid-sentence, Metharme stood behind him holding a tray with filled tea cups arranged neatly on it "I have returned with your beverages." Shade went wide-eyed and quickly put on a fake smile "Why thank you." He took one of the small cups and pretended to sip it, cautious in case it was tampered with. Each of them took the cups, uriel comically sobbing in fear as she shakily accepted hers. Pandora complimented "It's great~" Metharme smiled at the compliment "Why thank you. It's been brewing for several weeks in one of the boiler rooms in the basement." Pandora immediately looked pale, sipping the drink as Metharme noted that. "W-Weeks?" Metharme nodded as Shade reached creepily for the key, which was sticking out of the pockets of her shorts. Pandora's eye twitched as she put a hand to her mouth and girgled "Baldr... Tissue, please..." Baldr pulled a tissue out of a tissue box resting on a counter next to a sofa in the room and handed it politely to Pandora, who clutched it and spat the brew out into it with her back turned to the others, trying to maintain some lady-like qualities to the action. Metharme was about to question Pandora's action but quickly felt the key sticking out of her pocket loosening, and quickly whirled around toward Shade pointing a concealed Glock pistol at his face, frowning "It's not polite to try to get into a girl's pants upon first meeting them, you know." Her eyes widened, however, as Shade had a Revolver poised for her stomach, prepped to fire "Even if I happen to not hit you, you are outmatched and outgunned. You truly want to risk this?" Metharme stared at him, her eyes calculating the chances of winning against all of them. Finding a slim outcome, she lowered her gun and handed Shade the key. Sadow raised his blades to Metharme's neck as Shade unlocked the control grid and unlocked the exit beyond the wall. Shade nodded "It's done." Uriel put her hands to her hips and commented with a sarcastic tone "Well that's all well and good but we don't exactly have a means of getting past that wall, do we?" Baldr scratched his head, agreeing "I doubt I can break past it. These metal walls are pretty sturdy." Shade nodded in agreement while pulling a Claymore Charge out of his pack "We'll need something with quite the kick." Uriel stared in comical awe as Shade strapped the Charge to the wall. "W-Where do you... keep getting this stuff?!" Shade merely answered "Standard for Kagekyo mercenaries to have Claymore Charges, as well as a variety of Grenades. This variant is, personally, my favourite: The Mark V-10 Brittannian Maiden. Ten times the kick of a regular charge, it can blow a hole through even the most impregnable of fortresses. And they're not cheap." Adjusting the dial, he backed away quite a bit as the others merely watched him crouch down and cover his ears "I recommend you, oh what do they say... Hit the Deck?" As he says this, however, the others are blown back by the explosion, minus Baldr, who catches them before they hit the wall at the end of the room. He does so without moving, and merely raising his arms in their flight path. Pandora smiled up at him "Good work, Baldr~" He nodded and gruffed, and they were released from his grip. As Shade rejoined them, he was unnable to predict Metharme quickly elbowing Sadow in the crotch and kicking Shade away, snatching the key while he was in midair. She sprinted toward the control grid but was disappointed when Shade unloaded his pistol on it, destroying any hope of resealing the door. Or, so they thought. She smirked and dashed through the still-smoking hole in the wall, intent on reaching the door and pulling the red lever next to it to close it down. Shade, Sadow, and Baldr sprinted after her as the girls followed close behind, Uriel having to carry Pandora down to the ground below lest she risk getting a sprung ankle. As Metharme neared the lever at frightening speeds, Baldr wrapped his chains around her and attempted to halt her advance. He was surprised by her strength, as she still managed to inch closer to it despite Baldr's entire weight being put against her. Baldr finally realized "My strength, Uriel's speed, Pandora's knowledge, Sadow's endurance, and Shade's creativity. This girl, this... thing... has all of them combined!" Sadow jumped high into the air and landed gracefully on Baldr's chains, striding on them and jumping once more, landing on and bouncing off of Metharme's head. She exclaimed angrily "Hey!" Sadow smirked down at her while in midair "Cushiony." He landed in front of the lever and sliced off the hinges for it with his blades, letting the grip fall to the ground clammeringly. Metharme bitterly grabbed Baldr's chains and flung him over her head, toward Sadow, who barely managed to roll out of the way before being crushed. Sadow charged toward her as she charged at him, both having their fists raised to punch each other. SWhile Metharme's slammed into Sadow's face, emitting a loud crack, Sadow's fist drilled into her stomach, knocking the air out of her mechanized body. She stared up at him and choked out "You'd hit... a girl...?" Sadow smirked as blood trickled down the side of his head, his right eyelid faltering as his cheek swelled "You're no girl. Hell, you're not even human. You're a mockery of life. A Mannequin." Metharme looked utterly insulted by his words, as if she were on the verge of crying but lacked the means of doing so. She simply crumpled to her knees and stared at the ground as Sadow and company walked past her, out into the sunset. As she passed her, Pandora stared sadly at Metharme's defeated form, wishing she could do something to help her. But she knew Baldr wouldn't have any of it, and merely followed the group as they left the factory. The Sweet Beat of a Fake Heart Pandora was silent as they walked through the grey dusty roads that, hopefully for them, lead to a settlement. Sadow noticed her deppressed look and whispered to Shade "What's her problem...?" Shade whispered back "I can only guess that the trauma of the experience is getting to her. Perhaps you should talk to her." Sadow stared back at him "Me?" Shade nodded "If you won't, who will?" Sadow sighed and walked alongside Pandora with his arms behind his head, giving what he was hoping was a sympathetic look "You, err... seem awfully quiet. Mind telling me what's wrong?" Pandora muttered while staring back at him, her dark eyes glimmering with sorrow "Couldn't we have helped her...? I mean, that girl back at the factory?" Sadow raised a brow "Helped her? How? She's a murderous machine, I regret not putting my sword to her when I had the chance." Shade slapped his palm to his face while listening in, muttering mentally "How sympathetic." Pandora protested "That insult you gave really hurt her feelings!" Sadow retorted "What feelings? She's a robot. A machine. Like a printer. The only reason you feel bad for her is because she looks human." Pandora exclaimed "That's not true!" Sadow raised a brow "Is it? Would you feel bad if you insulted a printer?" Pandora stopped in her tracks, glaring at Sadow "She is not a printer..." Sadow didn't look at her, whilst the others had stopped and taken attention to the argument. He remarked "She is akin to one. Like a homicidal, life-sized doll with a computer for a brain-" Pandora screamed "Shutup!" Sadow stopped in his tracks but still didn't look at her, unsurprized by the outburst. She continued, breathing heavily and tears starting to form "You don't understand... anything!" At this, she took off into the forest next to the road they were on. Baldr immediately ran for her but was unnable to knock down some of the heavy trees in his path before he lost sight of the girl. Uriel berated Sadow "What did you have to go and hurt her feelings for, you jerk!" Shade nodded in agreement "I said sympathize with her, not crush her feelings." Before Sadow could justify himself, Baldr picked him up angrily, his single massive grey hand able to tighten around Sadow's waiste and lift him like a toy. Baldr glared at Sadow and yelled "If Lady Pandora is harmed because of your carelessness, you will be the one to blame!" Sadow had a tint of fear in his hazel eyes, merely thinking to himself as the Giant's grip tightened "...Such a... strong grip..." Baldr let go of him and turned around, quickly charging through the forest while calling out to Pandora. Uriel walked past Sadow and stuck her nose up at him "Hmph." Shade merely shook his head while walking past him, leaving Sadow to clench his teeth angrily and mutter "Bullshit..." A local who owned some land in the woods shook his head to the Giant "Nope. I haven't seen anyone other than you guys all day. Get's pretty quiet 'round here." He scratched his head then pointed to the east "If she ain't in these here woods, she'd probably be at the old run-down Cake factory. Been closed for a decade, it seems. There's still some Android girl there, or so they say. Apparently she was left behind when the other workers were sold and the factory shut down. Havin' nowhere else ter' go, she remained there." Baldr wasn't the least bit interested in the story of Metharme, but Sadow was. He listened contently as the local added "...'er memory core must've rusted down by now, making 'er a bit... unstable. I'd watch out if I were you. There's wolves in these woods, too. Wild ones, mangry varmits who kill all my deer." Baldr, hearing the mentioning of wolves in the forest, went on full-alert and turned around as Sadow nodded a "Thank you." to the local for the information. Sadow followed behind Baldr and stated "She may go to the factory, to metharme..." Baldr gruffed "You'd better hope she's still alright." They rejoined Shade, who was scanning the woods with binoculars. He grimaced "No sign of her. Any luck, Uriel?!" he shouted up at her, who was flying above the trees looking for Pandora. She shook her head "Nothing yet, but I'll keep looking!" She called out for Pandora, but to no avail. There was no sign of her. Even Shade, who was capable of placing his ear to the ground listening for the sound of footsteps, was unnable to detect her presence in the forest. He turned to Baldr "Sadow is probably right. If I cannot hear her in this part of the forest, she has probably made her way back to the factory." Baldr nodded "Then let us make our way there. The local said that there are packs of wolves in these woods." Shade grimaced "There is always the possibility that they may have-" Baldr hushed him with a swift holding up of his massive hand "Don't even think like that. Now let's get going to the factory, pronto." Shade nodded in agreement and yelled up at Uriel "Uriel! Head over to the factory and keep your eye out for Pandora!" Uriel nodded and fluttered in the direction of a pair of fuming smokestacks. Pandora wiped her eyes with her bare hand, sobbing while sitting crouched in front of a tall tree. She sniffed as a rabbit hopped toward her, sniffing the air cutely. She glanced at it curiously, wondering why it wasn't afraid of her. It neared her and allowed her to reach down and pet it. Moments before her hand could touch it, however, the skin of her hand changed in colour from light to dark. She gasped lightly and pulled away, it resuming it's original colour. The rabbit tilted it's head curiously as she stared at her hand in wonder. Looking back down at the rabbit, Pandora smiled and reached down to pet it once more, ignoring the change of colour in her skin. She used both hands to lift the creature to her chest, her face turning dark and her eyes becoming yellow, a row of black Daimond-shaped symbols appearing at the top of her forehead. She smiled at the dark-eyed rabbit, only to be interrupted from her happy moment by the low growl of wolves nearby. Her eyes widened in fear as the furry creature in her lap scurried off and sprinted away, the rustling of the leaves on the ground alerting the wolves to the position of Pandora. She screamed and took off, the hungry predators in hot pursuit. She returned to her original form after the rabbit had left, but she ignored this and continued to flee. She ran alongside a creek with one of the wolves running next to her, preparing to pounce. She tripped over a tree root that stuck out of the ground just as the beast tried to lunge at her, it clumsily flying into the creek and spraining it's paw. The viscious wolves disregarded it and continued their pursuit, Pandora having to strain herself to keep running. They chased her out of the forest and into a clearing, the ground being grey, dead dirt. She immediately saw the factory that housed Metharme, and sprinted after it, her chest heaving and feeling like it is about to burst. As three wolves neared her, a loud gunshot was heard and one of them crumpled to the ground, it's side spilling blood on the gravel it tread on. It whimpered in pain while it's pack continued to chase their prey, fearless of the new threat. Two more loud shots were heard, with two more wolves falling to the ground. The rest skidded to a stop as Pandora reached the factory, their canine eyes seeing a shadow blockout the sun, standing atop a railing on the factory. Metharme sat, crouched, with a sniper rifle held close. She wore sunglasses which had targeting reticules locked on the wolves. The end of the barrel smoked from the shots. The head of the pack growled bitterly and ordered it's remaining followers who weren't injured to retreat with a loud, sharp bark. Those that were left behind whimpered for help but were ignored. Metharme, taking pity on them, walked out to them, Pandora following close behind but saying nothing. She strapped the rifle to her back and pulled out some bandages from a pouch kept on her belt. The wolves merely growled lowly as she approached, but were too fearful of her to attack. She applied the bandages, smiling lightly "You dumb furr bags are lucky the bullets tore through your bodies, otherwise surgery might be needed." She handed them some jerky for their troubles and they limped away, barking in thanks. Metharme stood, not looking at Pandora, and asked "What is it that you're here for? Not content to make my home in more ruin than it was before you arrived?" Pandora shook her head, her hands at her chest nervously, as she stated while trying to regain her breath "I was... just... wanting to... see you..." Metharme turned toward her with a suspicious look and removed her sunglasses "...What?" Metharme sat, cross-legged, atop a wooden crate whilst Pandora sat on a foldout chair in front of her. She crossed her arms "You're white-haired friend sounds like he's had better days." Pandora sipped tea that was handed to her by Metharme "I just don't understand him sometimes." Metharme grimaced "He is your protector. It's understandable if he is suspicious of me." Pandora looked up at her, her eyes red from tears "You didn't have to save me from those wolves... Why did you?" Metharme shrugged evasively "Because I thought it would be fun?" Pandora tilted her head slightly "Wha? Nevermind... Tell me, why do you live here?" Metharme smiled absently while staring at the ruin that was her home "Because... it is my home. It was once one of many factories, made for producing Pygmalion's famous cakes. Unfortunately, however, our factory got shut down due to low income from anywhere nearby. They packed up all the other androids and left, but forgot about me... So I stayed and continued to make cakes here, despite being 'free', in a sense." Pandora nodded in understanding "I see." Metharme smiled at her "Here, let me show you something." She got up and lead Pandora to a pair of doors. Opening them, she turned on the lights, illuminating the huge dark room and revealing a wide assortment of cakes aligning the walls. She explains "They are my pride and joy. I've made these over the years when not customizing my tests." Pandora stared on in wonder, smiling brightly at all the cakes. "They're lovely..." Metharme smiled and blushed lightly at the compliment "You may... take some, if you'd like... I could always make more..." Pandora grimaced comically at her "Then why'd you make us go through those deadly tests if the cakes can simply be remade?" Metharme chimed while walking out of the room "...Because I thought it would be fun?" Pandora carried several small cakes in her arms as Metharme continued the tour. She lead her down to the boiler room, which was also serving as an oven for some of Metharme's cakes. As Pandora munched on a slice of cake, she tripped on one of the stairs and dropped three cakes into a boiling pot of lava below. Metharme looked comically fearful down at the lava and asked hesitantly "Uhhh... Pandora... What number was the green cake you just dropped...?" Pandora considered while sucking icing off of her index finger "Hmmm... I believe it read something like 1812?" Metharme put her gloved hands at her cheeks and yelled as the pot exploded, lava flowing onto the engines. She turned and quickly grabbed Pandora, who dropped the rest of the cakes upon being picked up. Metharme sprinted out of the engine room at top speeds as the engines ignited, filling the room with flames that traveled down the hallway they were in. Metharme held Pandora close as they neared an ironing rack that was conveniently placed in their way. She leaned back and skidded under the rack, continuing her trek through the factory hallways to reach a nearby exit. The flames covered the rack and continued down the hall, threatening to engulf Metharme and Pandora. Baldr, Shade, Sadow, and Uriel reached the factory, having past a pair of injured wolves. They stared on in shock as as factory's walls erupted, the windows shattering and fuming out fire. As Metharme passed a recorder, her hip hit it and it began to play Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture in it's finale. A loud eruption is heard and the hall shakes a bit but doesn't stop Metharme, who keeps sprinting toward the exit at the end of the hall. The ceiling collapses on it and Metharme, seeing no other option, darts down the hall to her left. She jumps onto the wall and kicks off of it onto the wall opposite of it and repeats this process until reaching a window high above the ground. The flames shoot into the room just as Metharme crashed through the window, the fire following her out. She falls gracefully to the ground, tumbles, and gets to her feet quickly, continuing her hurried pace away from the burning factory. The finale concludes just as the entire factory bursts in a fantastic explosion, pieces of metal and burnt cake flying in different directions. Metharme fell the ground and held Pandora tight against her as a sharp chunk of metal larger than she is flies directly over them. The remains of the factory continue to burn as Metharme cautiously gets up and releases Pandora. The group reach Pandora, Baldr exclaiming thankfully "Thank goodness you're alright, Lady Pandora..." She turned and saw Metharme watch as her factory burned down. Metharme sighed "I suppose I do not have a home now... The world doesn't need a useless cake-making android like me..." She sighed once more, hiding a smirk as she knew what was about to happen next. Pandora looked at Baldr with big, pleading eyes and he gruffed "Very well..." She jumped for joy and turned to metharme "Do you want to come with us? You can be my personal android!" Metharme turned to Pandora with a wide smile "Really?! I can come too?!" Pandora turned to Sadow for his approval. At first he looked sternly at Metharme then shrugged "She saved your life when she didn't have to. I guess there is more to this android than what I initially thought." Metharme blushed and smiled teasingly "Oh, you're just saying that..." Sadow's eye twitched in irritation "I said you can come along, let's not get all emotional about it." Metharme smiled beamingly at Pandora "And now he says I have emotions. I think we're gonna get along just fine." Sadow turned away in shame "And I'm... sorry about the earlier statements..." Metharme turned to Pandora and nodded with her. They turned back to Sadow and both chimed "We forgive you~" Shade puts his hands at his hips and sighed "What a crazy day this has been... I wonder if all our trips will be this hectic..." Sadow walked off while retorting "One can only hope, Shade." They continued on their path, leaving behind the burning ruins of the once dead dungeon of a cake factory. The Wing of the Fire-Hawk In the recruitment office of a Brittannian outpost, two guards relaxed as the day went on and their paperworks almost finished. One of the guards sipped some coffee and turned to his companion "Hey, Kensling, what's this I keep hearing about some Mercenary group that's hittin' it big nowadays?" The other guard sat in his recliner as the near-broken fan kept them cool. He grimaced in thought "Well, they're supposedly this band of awkward soldiers from all-around that haven't lost a single battle since they were formed. Their leader is, apparently, quite the stuff." The guard smirked "Well, they'd have to be to win that many battles and never lose once." As the guards spoke of the Mercenary group, a Brittannian government dam is taken over by a terrorist cell. The leader enters the main facility room and has his men take the workers hostage. He smirks and exclaims in a gruffy voice "Now then, let's get this shit rockin'. I want charges placed on every level. Get ready to blow this place on my signal." Two of his men nod and leave. As they walk down the halls, they see a blonde-haired man in a duster outfit examining a portrait hung in the hallway. They walk up to him and demand "Hey, you with Beta Team? Hey, I'm talking to you!" One of them grabs him by the shoulder and he turns to them, his hair parted over his eyepatch-covered right eye. Within the blink of an eye, his revolver is poised at the man's stomach and fires, the bullet ripping through his body and hitting the other terrorist behind him. Mozart's Dies Irae Requiem plays as the blonde man draws another revolver, sure that the others heard the gunshot, and takes off. The wounded terrorist from behind pulled out a handheld radio and placed his thumb on the button, exclaiming "Intruder on level C5! I'm wounded and Charlie's down! It's a blonde-haired man with an eyepatch! He's a fast motherfucker so watchout!" Three other guards draw their machine guns for battle as the blonde-haired man rounded a corner towards them, firing a single shot at each of their heads. The song continues to play as a man in a white coat makes Orchestra-conductor movements while on a moving elevator that overlooks the entire facility. As a group of five terrorists are standing with their backs to each other, fearful of their lives, a pale, clawed hand slams out of a ceiling tile and grabs one of their heads and pulls him into the ceiling. The others fire up at it while screaming in fear, only to find their comrade fall through another tile down the hall, covered head-to-toe in bullet wounds. A large Huangese Shuriken spins toward them while their backs are turned, one of it's blades spiking itself into the back of one of the terrorist's heads. They turn and fire once more as the Shuriken is plucked from the terrorist's head, the handle being connected to a long chain. One of them takes a Frag grenade from his belt and bites off the pin. He proceeds to throw it up into the ceiling system and follows the others out into the end of the hall. A Huangese man with long, blue hair held in a ponytail and snakelike eyes with blue lips and pale skin jumps down into the hall, the tiles being blown down from the explosion. They prepare to fire at him, only to be quickly dispatched by the blonde man's bullets. The Huangese warrior grins maniacally at him "'bout time, Cane." Cane grimaces and turns away, continuing on his path. The Huangese man smirks "Tch. Fine then, I'll finish them myself!" He pulls a Frag grenade out of one of the wounded terrorist's pouches and bites off the pin, shoving the grenade into the unfortunate soldier's pants "Bottoms up, big boy..." He grins and leaps off the railing at the end of the hall, leaving the terrorist to scream in fear before being blown to bits. The terrorist leader screams into his handheld radio "What the hell is going on around here?! Somebody talk to me!" A little girl with long, flowing white hair and crimson eyes sits on a small generator box as one of the terrorists points his machine gun at her. She smiles beamingly up at him and chimes "I wouldn't do thaaat~" He yells back "Shutup, bitch, or I'll turn you into Swiss cheese!" A red, glowing eye opens above and behind him. The next thing he knows, he is flung out a nearby window and falls to his watery grave. A large, dark-skinned Giant grimaces down at him while the girl waves "Have a nice faaall~" The man in the white coat continues to orchestrate until finally reaching the top of the dam, and strides along the ramps toward the main facility. Several groups of soldiers bearing a crest on their shoulder pads of a red bird gun down the remaining terrorists outside the main facility and the dam itself. The leader throws his handheld radio on the ground and takes a Submachine gun as well as a female hostage and hurries out to a ledge where a Helicopter is flying to pick them up. Just as he is about to reach the ladder that has folded out of the Helicopter, the man in the white coat reaches the ramp they are on with his sword unsheathed. The terrorist leader aims his firearm at the girl's head and demands "Don't move a fucking muscle, or the girl dies!" The white coat wearing man smirks and exclaims "Cane." Upon uttering the name, he crouches down, revealing Cane behind him, who is aiming his revolvers at the leader. He fires once, blowing a hole in the leader's shoulder and knocking the gun out of his hand. The leader falls to his knee as the girl runs out the man in the white coat, who continues to smirk and utters "Hundred Blades." He points his sword at the helicopter, and the blade extends in length. So far does it stretch that it manages to impale the Helicopter's engine, causing it to explode in a fiery eruption and descend to the waters below. The sword retracts and he sheathes it and walks up to the lead terrorist, who merely stairs up at him in shock "Y-You're..." The guard raised a brow "What is the name of these so-called unbeatable Mercenaries?" The other guard sitting in the recliner smirks "They call themselves..." The white coat wearing man's face is finally revealed to be that of a young man with short, white hair with bangs framing his face and light, glimmering blue eyes. His smile was soft and gentle, his skin fair and smooth. He extended his hand to help up the terrorist he had just defeated, smiling lightly down at him as the guard answered completely "...The Pheonix Wing." Preview Next chapter, our group finally arrive in Olympus, but can Pandora part with Sadow so easily? As the new journey entails, who is this mysterious man that Sadow is so compelled to find? Find out in the next chapter of My inferno!